The remains of a stone altar were also found in the archaeological excavations carried out next to Leicester Cathedral.
of Leicester a Roman temple or sanctuary has been found in the archaeological excavations carried out next to the cathedral, says the archaeological department of the British University of Leicester in its announcement. Excavations are being carried out in the old cemetery of the cathedral in Leicester city centre.
The discovery was reported by other British newspapers The Guardian and the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC.
The construction work of Leicester Cathedral, which represents the Gothic style, possibly started in 1086. The church’s old cemetery is now a park area, where a visitor center is planned to be built.
In excavations remains of more than 1,100 bodies have been found. They date from the 11th century until the middle of the 19th century, when the cemetery was abandoned. According to a press release from the University of Leicester, the mortal remains will be reburied once the project is completed.
After the archaeologists reached a depth of about three meters in the excavations, they found a skillfully made room that had been built underground in the 10th century. The painting of the stone walls of the room suggests that it was not used at least as a basement storage room. A broken stone altar was found in the middle of the room. The concrete-floored room was already filled with earth and stones in the late 200s or 300s.
“Such underground chambers are often associated with fertility or mystery cults that worshiped Mithras, Cybele, Bacchus, Dionysus or Isis,” says the excavation leader Mathew Morris In a bulletin from the Department of Archeology at the University of Leicester.
In the Roman Empire, Mithraism was a mystery religion especially popular with men, whose origin is not fully known. Kybele was a mother goddess whose worship originated in the area of present-day Turkey. In Greek mythology, Dionysus was, among other things, the god of wine, whose Roman name was Bacchus. Isis was the mother and protector goddess of ancient Egypt, who was also widely worshiped in the Roman Empire.
Part of a broken stone altar from the Roman period. Picture: Department of Archaeology, University of Leicester
Morris’s according to the remains of the stone altar, no writing has been preserved, so it is not possible to obtain certainty about the God or Goddess worshiped in the underground room.
According to Morris, for hundreds of years folklore has said that a Roman temple stood on the site of Leicester Cathedral. The genealogy was already confirmed by some discoveries made in the area in the 19th century.
The Romans founded the city of Leicester around the year 47. The city’s Roman name was Ratae Corieltauvorum, but there was an Iron Age settlement on the site even before the Romans conquered England from the year 43.
In 2015, the King of England was buried in Leicester Cathedral Richard III:n (1452–1485) remains, which were found nearby a few years earlier.